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Mike Stout
Details AMERICANA DREAMS Keeping the Promise Historian James Truslow Adams, who coined the phrase "American Dream", wrote: “The American Dream is that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for every man, … unrepressed by social orders”. It’s a world of opportunity where everyone has a fair shot at a decent life. Inscribed with the words "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free", the Statue of Liberty is a symbol of the American dream for downtrodden of the world. It symbolizes the promise of social, environmental, and economic justice bringing hope to people around the world. The American dream has always been challenged by powerful forces who seek an unrestricted laissez-faire world where they are free to exploit workers and free to ravage the environment. These forces challenge us today. With the decline of manufacturing and the endless rounds of down sizing millions of good paying jobs and lifelong careers have been lost. Massive cutbacks in school funding and increasing college tuition make it harder to get a good education. Our environment is being polluted with massive oil spills, mountain top mining, and poisonous fracking fluids in the endless quest for the dirty fossil fuels that cause global warming. The promise of a good education, a good job, and a healthy environment is fading. With the music and lyrics of “Americana Dreams” Mike Stout challenges the citizens of the world to keep the promise of the American dream alive. He urges us to stand up for the downtrodden. He calls on us to stand up against social, economic, and environmental injustice. His music yearns for the same peace and justice that has been the theme of the Americana folk music of Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger. Guthrie wrote: ----- “A folk song is what's wrong and how to fix it or it could be who's hungry and where their mouth is or who's out of work and where the job is or who's broke and where the money is or who's carrying a gun and where the peace is.” “Americana Dreams” is dedicated to the promise of making this country and our world a better place where there’s freedom, equality, and justice for ALL, to the poorest, neediest, and not just for the well-to-do and privileged. In his songs Stout celebrates the unheralded heroes and heroines who fought to keep the American dream alive for ordinary working people. 29 Miners Buried and Gone - The story of the 29 miners killed at the Upper Big Branch mine should be kept alive so that mine safety laws are strengthen and enforced. With the technology available today, miners shouldn’t be getting killed in methane explosions and working in dangerous unsafe conditions. The Tale of Marcellus Shale - 70,000 natural gas wells are slated to be drilled in Pennsylvania over the next 5 years. With exclusions from environmental regulations, profit-hungry drillers may poison our wells, streams, lakes and rivers for generations with cancer causing fracking fluids. Our public lands, pristine forests, and own backyards are being turned into polluted moonscapes with massive containment tanks and drilling junk. We must get informed and act now. Maida and Annie -History is rife with nameless forgotten path-breaking women who led the fight for workers rights and social justice. This song pays tribute to Maida Springer Kemp and Anne McLemore, who along the countless other women of color fought for justice The MST -Noted activist, Noam Chomsky, calls the MST (Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra) the world’s most important social movement. Southern Brazil’s rural workers are striving to improve the economic plight of the dispossessed and poor. The MST is creating ‘a new kind of people’ who respect one another and who ‘think for themselves.’ Here's the Story of Pittsburgh -A salute to the ordinary working class heroes of Pittsburgh who bravely fought against repressive forces to stop slavery, to stop worker exploitation, and to win civil rights. Cops of the World –The U.S. spends billion policing the world with a global empire of hundreds of bases, thousands of our finest young men and women, and a military budget equal to the next 22 countries combined. As long as the U.S. acts of the Cops of the World it will never have the funds and resources to provide the education and infrastructure needed to allow everyone the opportunity to earn a decent living in a safe environment. We should be building schools and a clean energy industry to keep the American dream alive. You Are My Brother - A love song to my brothers of all persuasion. There’s nothing thicker than blood mixed with love. For when all is said and done, no matter the politics and how many different roads we travel, this bond is inescapable. We Need a New System -The economic downturn that began in 2008 destroyed the livelihoods of millions of people around the world. The wealth of the super-rich is growing at the expense of the common folk. Our current system allows a powerful few to rampantly exploit the people and the environment for their own gain. It does not meet the basic needs of the majority of the people. Back In the U.S. of A. -For many around the world, their only experience with the USA is through the prism of Hollywood movies and pop music which depict America as place that glorifies violence and getting’ filthy rich. Giving the people of the world a more balanced view of America and it’s dream should certainly be on the agenda for more than just this songwriter. Calling Steeler Nation -A salute to the spirited throngs of Pittsburghers who scattered around the world with the shutdown of the steel mills in the 1980’s. It is a tribute to the workers who built America and who rally around the world to cheer on their hometown team. They Are the Future -During his music tours of schools in Germany and the U.S. from 2007 through 2009, Mike interviewed many children asking them about what kind of world the yearn to live in. Their dreams and ideas about the future are expressed in this song. My Brother Did Not Die In Vain -A song of redemption and awakening for worker health and safety activist, Donna Spadaro who lost her brother, Gary, in a senseless and preventable workplace accident. Annually an average 6,000 workers die on the job in the U.S. –a figure equal to two 9-11’s. Where is the outrage and action to stop preventable deaths? The Promise Kept -Written for Mike’s sister on the occasion of her 40th wedding anniversary, it is a living testimony to the bonds and strength of relationships built on the solid rocks of commitment, trust and love. Category:Music Category:Musican Stout,Mike